Darkened Moon
by Lily Jay
Summary: Before Harry Potter went to school, there were four boys who solemnly swore they were up to no good. It's 1971 and the Marauders are off to their first year at Hogwarts but, what's really wrong with their new friend Remus?
1. Prologue

Chapter 1

Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with excitement as the parents watched their children boarding a train that would take them away for about nine months. Nine months of rejoicing for them being gone and nine months of mourning for them leaving. It was a harsh time for most of the first year parents. They weren't the only ones. Even more experienced wizards had tears in their eyes as they watched their children leave for school. For others it wasn't as harsh a punishment, either having done this before, or being strongly relieved that they weren't the ones who had to look after the rebellious, young wizards in training.

For some, however, it was a mind wracking catastrophe, for instance take this woman.

"JAMEY!! Oh where in Merlin name is that boy? Oh god if he's missing I think I just might have to jump off a cliff! James? Jamey?! Where are you?!"

It seems that we have a missing boy on the premises. That's a problem….  
She was slightly taller than average height, her arms and hands being the only features to show that she was a woman of work. If you didn't look close enough to see the well toned arm muscles and calloused, yet soft, hands, you would think that this woman was far too delicate and proper to even remotely consider lifting a finger towards hard work.

She ran around barefoot in gypsy-like attire, rings around her ankles and wrists, intricate designs drawn onto the colorful and wispy, and very beautiful fabric. It actually looked something like an Indian sari, clinging closely to just the right places and loosely at other parts, to flatter her lightly curved body. Her skin tone was fairly dark, sun kissed, most likely from working outside. Beauty seemed to radiate from her face. Her high cheekbones and button nose complemented her dark rose colored lips. Friendly as she looked, her large brown eyes clearly stated that she was not a woman to cross. The chocolate brown seemed to have an impossibly light sheen of red shimmering through it, barely discernible unless she was very angry, by which time, you'd already gone too far. A bandanna wove through her long, braided, black hair that had little gold rings tied in. It swished to-and-fro as she ran frantically through the station in search of the lost boy.

Stopping for only a minute, she allowed herself to catch her breath.

"Dear Merlin…" She breathed out fogging the golden necklaces around her neck; the loops of her earrings could clearly be seen through her peripheral vision. The jewels that adorned her face at the ends of her eyes and top of her forehead were compressed together as her eyes formed a glare, more from worry than anger. She continued speaking, "If he misses this train I'll have him working double shifts."

Looking up from her tired pose, she saw white feathers littering the ground and glared heavily. Oh was he in for it... Having caught her breath, she started again with a new found vigor to find the boy named James. People stared as she ran by, hysterically, in search of her wayward son.  
Then she saw him, a small boy, nearly eleven, standing next to a case that bore the crest of his new school. A white owl was perched on a cage that was sitting on top of it. He was small for his age, about the size of an average nine year old, with mussed up black hair. His eyes were like hers, hazel brown and large. An innocent glint shone in them, unmarred by any troubles or cares. They were hiding behind glasses that would have covered them almost completely had it been that he were wearing them properly, on the top of his nose, rather than the middle. The clothes he wore were strange to this society. His bright red sweat shirt was at least two sizes too big for him, and the jeans were long and dusty from playing around in the dirt. He was too busy trying to keep a feather up in the air by blowing on it to notice the woman approaching him. A light gust of wind stole his feather away.

He moaned in disappointment, "Aww man…" Turning to the owl right next to him, he gave a bored face, "Mind sparing another one?"

The owl tucked its head under its wing and pulled out a loose feather. He took it from it's beak and patted it on the head.

"Good boy…" It nipped at him cruelly and he took his hand back. "Ow! Okay, sorry. Good girl."

"James Potter!" Looking over his shoulder he smiled a bit, "Ah there you are mum! Where'd you go?"

"I could ask you the same thing! Why did you leave without me?" She asked, concerned for her son's safety.

"I just wanted to get a good seat on the train. People are really fussy when it comes to seats!" he said with a shrug and an annoyed look on his face.

The woman rolled her eyes and sighed once again; smiling at her son she ran her hands through his really soft hair, letting her pointed nails graze through the short strands.

"Be careful my son. I love you so much, if anyone annoys or makes fun of you, then go ahead and beat them up! I want letters every week telling me about all of your friends and I want you to tell me everything that goes on!" She said kissing him on the cheek, wiping his nose that had a little bit of dirt on it.

He laughed, slightly embarrassed, "Mom cut it out! I'm going to be late!"

He stared at her for a moment with an angry look and then smiled happily, "Okay mum, I love ya!" Kissing her on the cheek he ran towards the train with a happy look on his face.

"Oh, James hold on a second!"

Turning around he caught a rather large bag and looked inside, Galleons! Galleons galore!

"Thanks mum! See ya later!"

"Bye Jamey!" She yelled as she watched her son run to the front of the train, "Oh Merlin, bless his soul that he'll behave. They grow up so fast… Physically anyways."

Turning away she began to walk to the port hole that took her to that crazy place. Chaotic messes, check, go home and rest for the next nine months, working on it.

On the other side of the station however there was another family that had just entered through  
Apparition. This family looked to be, by far means, the most evil thing on the premises. The man was holding onto his wife's arm with one hand while the other laid hanging outside the robe with a single cigar lying between two long fingers. The two boys were being gripped tightly by their mother as they materialized onto the platform, though barely a second afterwards, she released their shoulders as though they had caught fire. Their cold heartless stares chilled the bones of anyone who looked directly into their eyes. A little house elf trailed behind them pushing a baggage cart.

The man was tall with dark green eyes, green eyes that were as beautiful as jewels but as cold as stone. He wore a rich green cloak that fell well past his ankles, skimming the floor with the silver lining. Vine like designs were drawn onto that silver making their way from the floor where they started to drag just below his collarbone, where it trimmed off under the black layer that formed the hood. His face was calm, no hint of what he was thinking, for his eyebrows were trim except for their manly, bushiness. His bangs fell into his face slightly, giving an air of aristocracy. He wore a necklace that fell to the junction where the robe met. A single crystal with a glowing orb inside was all it was, but it held such a beauty and grace that all eyes turned as they saw it. What a hefty price such a jewel would cost, many wanted to get their hands on the jewel but those cold, beautiful eyes kept them from approaching.

"Filthy mud-bloods…"

It was the beautiful woman that spoke, and when people saw her, beautiful was an understatement. It was as if the goddess Aphrodite had touched her as a babe, making her eternally beautiful. Fair was a word most commonly used for this woman, because everything about her was indeed fair. Everything from the top of her head to the toes on her feet were so. Her charcoal colored eyes were surrounded by purple eyeliner with a sparkle of green to the sides of her eyes that carried long beautiful lashes. She wore extravagant robes that were in the colors of greens, purples and, of course, black, like the man who stood next to her. The dress was a double layer, like ones you would find most commonly in the medieval times, a dark green color with a white under layer. A black corset defined her breasts and hips more, as it squeezed in her waist. Which, even without a corset, you could tell was rather thin. Yes, indeed, she was a beauty.

Her cloak on the other hand was a deep purple color. It looked soft to the touch as it fell over her shoulders and down to the floor, dragging like the man's robes. Around her skinny neck was a beautiful pearl necklace, large pearls that were custom made to fit around only her neck it seemed, for on the end of the pearl necklace was a crescent moon. Not just a crescent moon though a solid gold one, for in the moon there were three small pearls that were surrounded by even smaller diamonds giving the pendant a shine to it.

"Filthy, disgusting mud-bloods…" came the words from her delicate lips, "Always polluting this air with their stench it makes me sick."

The man took a puff of his cigar, his eyes glinting for a moment as if they took on the pupils of a snake. The smoke that came out of his mouth then took the form of the creature and, with another breath, a human-like figure. With one large bite the smoky snake devoured the human figure leaving nothing behind. Later after they passed by a human went unconscious. Only temporarily though, for killing someone in public wasn't on the man's agenda for the day.

"There you are my dear, one less to deal with." The woman smirked at her husband brushed her long, wavy black hair behind her.

"Thank you, the stench was getting so strong I thought I was going to faint." They two laughed maniacally at the horrible joke.

The man looked down towards the boys and asked, "What did you learn there, boys?"

The oldest was the first to answer. "That mudbloods are less than what we are." He explained flat and sadly.

The man nodded taking another puff and then towards the younger of the two who was clinging to his brother's arm for dear life in fear of his parents getting mad at him.

"And you Regulus?"

The first name to be uttered by the family, the boy replied quietly, "We have all right to get rid of them because we're pure and they're not?"

The boy was quite peculiar, for as he spoke his eyes changed different colors. At first they were green, and then they turned to a dark yellow, and then brown. They were green at the moment as their father nodded his acceptance to his reply. The boys were dressed in black suits, much like their father's but, instead of green, Regulus's was purple, his elder brother's, black.

As they walked passed more of the so called 'mud-bloods', the father turned towards the small elf who was pushing the luggage and with a sneer he called out, "Kreacher!"

The house elf turned towards the man and bowed in humbleness, "Yes my Master?"

"Take the baggage to the train, make sure nothing is broken." The house elf bowed. "Is there anything else Kreacher can do for his Master at this time?"

The man took another puff of his cigar letting the smoke linger for a moment before letting it go. "No, that should be all."

The elf bowed once again and began pushing the luggage towards the baggage cart of the train.  
The man, seeing that the elf was doing as he was told, turned towards his sons. Smiling a little bit, he placed his hand on the older one's shoulder, the boy stiffened inside but outside he just stared up at his father.

"Get into Slytherin boy, that's the only thing I want from you."

The mother walked towards the boy and got down to eye level with him.

"And also, if you see any mud-bloods, or half-bloods, you know what to do." She told him, with a look of expectancy.

The boy smirked and bowed his head, "I will not fail you mother, father."

The woman seemed happy with this because she then smiled a wicked smile towards the boy and flipped her long hair over her shoulders once again with a sway of the hand.

"Be sure to say hi to your cousins for me. I haven't seen them in ages."

The boy nodded once again and spoke to his parents.

"I'll be sure to do so, once I've gotten into Slytherin that is."

The father threw down the butt of the cigar and stared at the boy with cold, emotionless eyes, the smirk still playing on his face.

"Good luck Sirius. Write us as soon as you get into Slytherin. Come along now Regulus, best let your brother go to school."

The boy glared at the train, not saying a word but reluctantly let go of Sirius's arm. He instead went towards his father and breathed deeply.

The mother leaned down towards the younger boy and smiled at him, "Well, aren't you going to say goodbye to your brother?"

Regulus looked towards his brother, but instead of a goodbye, or a see you later he just waved his hand and nothing more. His father shrugged his shoulders.

"Close enough, let's go."

After his family was out of sight Sirius turned towards the train and sighed heavily, here he was heading towards a school that he'd been training since birth to be accepted into. A school filled with witches and wizards of all sorts, of all ethnicities, heritages, and types. But he remembered he was from the best, that he was from the greatest wizarding families of them all, the most Noble and Ancient House of Black. Letting the disguise of the snobbish family leave him he entered the train.

Now Sirius was a beautiful boy of eleven years old, he'd just turned eleven the week before in August. His hair was well trimmed but held a messy sort of appearance to give a bad-boy attitude, the bangs much like his father's fell in his eyes. You would sometimes see him push them back to reveal his dark blue eyes, beautiful eyes, that had a silver-like color outlining the irises to give a starry, night sky look. His robes were the schools required long black ones that were waiting for the outlining and the patch to be sewn onto them, hopefully the color green that the boy seemed to be so fond of getting. They were perfectly flawless, just like the outward features of the young boy. He was a combination of both of his parents, flawless in every way.

As the boy elegantly walked onto the train, he grinned to himself when the people were staring at him, he knew how beautiful he was and, yes, he was proud of it. He kept walking down the long halls of the train, looking for an open compartment, most likely one that didn't have mud-bloods or half-breeds in there. If his cousins saw him sitting with the likes of them, they would surely tell his parents, and Sirius was far too afraid to deal with their ranting.  
If you are confused as to what these 'mud-bloods' and 'half-breeds' are I will briefly explain, a mud-blood is a term used by the pure-blood wizarding families to describe a wizard or witch born from two non magical humans, or muggles. A half-blood is when a wizard and a muggle (or mud-blood) have a child and they develop the magical abilities of their parents. These two classes of witches and wizards are looked down upon by the 'pure-bloods' of the wizard society and so they have an air of superiority when around them.

Sirius was too busy staring at the ground, trying to burn a hole through it with his glare that he didn't notice when he ran into another boy. The other boy had been running down the halls of the train for the fun of it and wasn't watching where he was going, so in the process, both of them fell to the ground. Sirius got up on his elbows and almost cussed at him for being a stupid knucklehead, until he saw the ring securely fastened on a necklace around the boy's neck. It was the family ring of one of the other pure-blood families in the wizarding society, a Potter. Sirius sighed in relief that he'd found a pure-blood.

The boy looked at him and instantly was on his feet, "I'm sorry mate, and here let me help you up. I'm such a klutz sometimes that I don't watch where I'm going. I'm so sorry about that once again, by the way my name is James, James Potter and you are?"

His hand outstretched towards Sirius. It gave him a moment to study the boy. He indeed was a klutz and it took him a while to actually put a resemblance to the Potter family, for what he wore was not what he'd expect a Potter to wear. It was a sweater that you would usually see common people, or even muggles wear. It was only until he saw the eyes and the way his hair was styled he could realize that the boy wasn't an impostor.

The words that the other boy placed in his head probably didn't strike because the next thing he said as he grasped hold of the hand was, "Stupid…"

James seemed a little confused but then smiled a bit, "Well that's not a great name, but it will do. Nice to meet ya, Stupid."

Sirius looked and him and then countered back a little shocked, "My names not Stupid. It's Sirius, Sirius Black."

"But you told me that your name was Stupid."

James seemed a little confused because he could've sworn that Sirius just told him that his name was Stupid. This was a serious problem for James because if the boys name was Sirius, instead of Stupid, then that would mean that he was Stupid, but his name was clearly James and not Stupid so Sirius really was Stupid for thinking that his name was Stupid.

Conclusion…. Sirius is Stupid end of story.

"Whatever you say Stupid, let's go find a seat." James responded with a shrug of his shoulders.  
James opened a compartment door and shouted in glee when there was nobody in there.

"Yes! Free compartment! Well, come on Stupid, aren't you coming?"

Sirius was flushed red in anger and embarrassment, but followed like a gentleman should follow. He needed to keep family relations close with all pure-blood families, for who knows, maybe this pest had a little sister that could eventually marry into his family. On second thought, Sirius pondered, maybe that wouldn't be a great idea. That would mean having the pest for a brother-in-law.

James was looking out the window of the train in awe; it must've been his first time or something along the lines, because the way he was staring out of it was like a small child in a Quidditch store.

"Wow, I'm sure glad that we're going to Hogwarts, Stupid. That means nine months away from our parents, we could go and cause all sorts of havoc and not once get into trouble!"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "You do realize that you're going to school right? Of course you'd get into trouble when you'd cause pranks. But hey it sounds like fun, so you can count me in."  
He actually thought it would be nice to get a few pranks in, even if it would get him into trouble, the boy sounded like he'd provide a good year. As long as he was in Slytherin that is.  
Both of them heard a knock on the door as a beautiful young girl stood outside, she was indeed beautiful with firy red hair, and the most beautiful green eyes that anyone had ever seen and believe me; Sirius had seen a lot of green eyes in his day. His father and brother had green eyes for Merlin's sake. She had a few freckles on her face giving her a child-like appearance. It was a sign that she played a lot in the sun, an attribute that Sirius himself did not have, he had no sort of thing on his face. It was flawless.

James stared at her with a certain look in his eyes; she smiled a little bit and said, "Sorry to intrude, but can I sit in here? By the time I get anywhere else they'll all be full."

James instantly responded, a small blush forming on his face at the beautiful girl.

"O-of course! Which would you like? The window seat or the one near the door?"

The girl thought on this for a moment before proceeding to say, "The window seat please, I think I might get travel sickness on the way."

James instantly scooted to where the door seat was and let the girl have the desired seat. She thanked both of them gratefully and sat down, she then remembered something.

"Oh and there might be someone else coming in as well, do you mind?"

Sirius shook his head, "No it's fine, but as you were saying. Pranks?"

"Yeah! You know, dung bombs in the teachers desk, letting off a spell in the Grand Hall that would be priceless! OH just think of how many detentions I can accumulate!" Sirius nearly laughed at this, "Wait, you're saying you want to get detention?"

"Well yeah, I want to know if it's any fun or not. Detention by my mum, now that is horrible!" He visibly shuddered when he spoke of the 'detention'.

The girl in the corner they could hear sobs coming from. But perhaps it was just home sickness setting in. James could feel that in his gut too, but kept talking to Sirius to pass the time and keep his mind off of it.

They were well into the countryside before another person entered the compartment. He was a fellow around the age that they were, he had wrangled, greasy black hair and a rather large nose. Much like the others in the compartment, he was dressed in the robes to the school.  
He took his seat on the opposite side of the girl and she began to talk to the other, only briefly looking at him.

"I don't want to talk to you." She said in a constricted voice. James and Sirius stayed quiet, trying to figure out if this was one of these "lover's quarrels" they heard so much about.

"Why not?" The large nosed boy asked her, completely baffled. James and Sirius glanced at each other trying not to stare at the others.

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

James and Sirius grinned like maniacs when she threw the boy a look of deep dislike.

"So she's my sister!" She yelled at him, James and Sirius visibly flinched at the tone of her voice. That high of a frequency was enough to get any man to beg for mercy.

"She's only a—" The boy caught himself quickly, the two others knew that he was about to say.

The conversation was growing dull and James and Sirius started to talk to each other again. It was only until he heard the word 'Slytherin' that both their ears regained an interest.

"Slytherin?" James asked the other. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He asked towards Sirius this time. The Black child's head rested on his hand, the arm was on the arm rest leisurely relaxing. Sirius didn't smile though.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin." He said monotonously.

"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed alright!" He joked.

Sirius grinned, "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James puffed out his chest and lifted up an invisible sword, with a heroic smack to his chest he exclaimed, "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Just like my dad!"

Hearing a small disapproval from the greasy boy, he glared at him.

"Got a problem with that?" He asked threateningly. Nobody insulted him, especially when he spoke of his dad.

"No," The other said with a slight sneer towards James, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where are you hoping to go seeing as you're neither?!" interjected Sirius angrily. James, as of two seconds ago, was now his official, self-proclaimed, best friend. And nobody did that to James!  
The female stood up, with a look of offense towards the two boys.

Grabbing the other's hand, she spoke out very haughtily, "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo!" The two boys mimicked in a high pitched voice, and as they passed James tried to trip Severus.

"See ya later, Snivellus!" Sirius yelled as the door was slammed.

James fell over in laughter at the nickname.

"Oh! That was rich Sirius! Snivellus?! Priceless, I'll have to remember that one."

While with the beautiful girl and the boy named Severus, let me introduce you. The girl you just saw, her name is Lily Evans. She is in fact a 'mud-blood' but we don't use that kind of language here. She is a muggle born witch, and was accepted to go to Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Her friend is named Severus Snape. He and Lily have been friends for a while and are happy they can go to school together. But we'll have to leave them now, because the two other main characters we have in this story have just arrived.

"Excuse me, miss?" a blond boy with a slight French accent asked Lily.

Lily smiled at him and said, "Yes, may I help you?"

"Yes actually, do you know if there are any compartments open down there? I've been searching since the train started and can't seem to find one."

The girl glared a bit but shook it off, "Yes there's one with two very annoying boys in it. I'd try and find a different one if I were you. They are bad news if you ask me."

The blond boy just smiled towards her and bowed his head in thanks, "I think we'll be just fine, thank you for your help, miss uh…"

"Lily, Lily Evans. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr.… um."

"Lupin is my name. Remus Lupin."

"Remus then, and this is my friend Severus Snape. I hope to meet more decent people like you Remus. Unlike those two… idiots back there."

Remus laughed a bit. "We all try, oh, and before I forget, this is my companion in compartment hunting, Peter Pettigrew."

"How do you do?" The other didn't respond, only nodded.

Remus looked towards the southern end of the train, "Well best be off, and it was nice meeting you Lily, as with you Severus. Good day."

Lily looked towards her friend, "I just wish there were more men like him Sev… Then the world would be a better place." She said with a goofy grin. Severus just laughed a bit.

Remus walked down the hall to where Lily had directed him, Peter was close behind. They looked into every compartment until they found the one that Lily had been talking about. The two boys were laughing about something or another that they didn't notice when Remus slid the door open and knocked. Both the boys looked over at the two in the corridor.

Remus smiled and nodded his head, "May we sit in here? All the other compartments are full."  
"Sure! The more the merrier!" The brown haired boy said.

Remus thanked him kindly and placed his bag on the ground before he sat down on the side of the black haired boy. Peter closed the door behind him and sat down on the opposite side of Remus. Remus, not being the one for not knowing names smiled towards the two boys.

"Thank you so much, my name is Remus Lupin."

The brown haired boy pounded his chest with his fist and said, "I'm James Potter and this is Stupid!" He said pointing towards the black haired boy who glared at him and then with a beautiful smile said to Remus,

"Don't listen to him, he's an idiot. My name is Sirius Black. Pleasure to meet you Remus." The two pairs of eyes focused on the little chubby boy in the corner of the compartment.  
He stuttered out weakly, "P-P-Peter Pettigrew…"

"Brilliant! Now that we're all acquainted, we can be best of friends!" Remus laughed a bit.  
James instantly latched his attention towards Remus, "So Remmy, what house do you want to go into?"

Remus tapped his chin a little bit and thought, "Hrm… I don't know, I haven't really thought about it."

James leaned back, "I really hope I get to be a Gryffindor, and maybe in my second year I'll get to be a member on the Quidditch team."

Sirius leaned back as well and spoke up, "I think that would be fun, I'd want to be a beater. They get to have all the fun."

"Chaser for me. Or a seeker, the ones that everyone is cheering for, that's what I like the most! Just like those professional teams, everyone is always paying attention to the chasers until the seeker goes into action!"

Sirius nodded, "True, but I think a keeper would also be fun."

The conversation on Quidditch went on for a while and Remus began to get a little bored with the subject leaning down to his bag he unzipped it catching every ones attention as he did so.

"So Remmy, what's in the bag?"

"Remus. And, you know, my clothes that I changed out of, and a nice book to read." Remus stated simply.

"Oh, I see! What book is it?"

"Just Defense against the Dark Arts, nothing special." Sirius looked at the book and then exclaimed.

"That's an advanced version!"

Remus looked at it, "Well I was going to take the ones for our classes out of my bag but I decided that would be too much of a hassle."

James just shook his head. "All I can say, Remus, is that I hope you can help me with the homework."

It was early evening when they hit the station at Hogwarts. The beautiful castle was in plain sight and it was like a castle in the sky with how it lit up the darkened night. Remus however was staring at the moon that was barely waxing.

Sirius saw Remus staring at the moon and asked, "What? Do you like the moon that much?"

"Quite the opposite actually."

A tall hairy giant walked up to the groups getting off the train, "Firs' years! Firs' years! Follow me firs' years!"

The four boys stared at the giant in amazement. He was a man with a huge bushy beard and a frontiersmen outfit.

When all the first years were gathered around the man spoke again, "Hello, my name is 'Agrid. I'm the grounds keeper 'ere at Hogwarts, and so if ya'll follow me then we'll head up ter the castle."

Sirius and James grinned at each other with an evil grin thinking of all the possible pranks they could pull on this man alone. They all went down to the lake, there were boats positioned there that about four or five people could fit in at a time. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all got into the same boat as Hagrid; they wanted to get to 'know' the man a little more.

"So Hagrid, how long have you been a grounds keeper here?" Remus asked in amusement.

"Oh, about twenty or so years I'd reckon. Quite a while actually." Hagrid said, as he nodded to something that wasn't there and the boats began to move.

James and Sirius looked around and asked, "What's moving these boats?"

"Magic is of course, are ya blind?"

James crinkled his nose, he knew magic. It wasn't magic that was powering these boats.  
Remus looked towards the sky and began to get fidgety; he was grasping at his arm and then let out a pained sigh like some pain that he'd been fighting had just left him.

It was only until then that Sirius asked Remus, "Why do you have bandages everywhere?"

Remus's immediate reply, almost to quickly to be precise, "Oh I was just being careless and cut myself accidentally, nothing to be worried about."

Sirius began to wonder on Remus's words. Accidentally cutting yourself on the neck was something he just couldn't believe.

Hagrid, sensing the tension in the air quickly changed the subject, "So what are yer names?"  
"Remus."

"James"

"Sirius"

No reply from the fourth one and so the other three graciously explained, "Peter."

"Nice ter meet'cha boys. But it's time ter get off," Hagrid said, as they hit the dock rather roughly. "Boats can never seem ter stop jus' right."

Remus stumbled slightly as he tried to get out of the boat behind Sirius. Hagrid gripped him by the back of his robes and lifted him onto the dock then, with one look at the rest of them, lifted each James and Peter up as well. They thanked Hagrid for helping them up and the four boys, along with the rest of the first years, walked what seemed to be a million stairs to the castle entrance.

As they were reaching the final steps that led to huge oak doors, they were stopped by a woman in emerald green robes. She had red hair with slight strands of gray embedded in as well. Her eyes were a piercing gray as well and she had a sort of high air to her. In a very proper way she introduced herself.

"My name is Professor McGonagall. And I would like to welcome all of you to Hogwarts. The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily, so I will be back in a bit as soon as the other years are settled in."

As the woman left, the first years looked around to see if they knew anybody. And surely enough word that a 'Black' was around hyped up everyone in the crowd. People were talking about a necklace of sorts. Remus then saw a pendant hanging on Sirius's neck. It was a pendant shaped like a dog; a warrior was behind the dog, probably symbolizing the warrior spirit inside. The dogs mouth carried what seemed to be a crystal diamond, inside that diamond was a dark blue stone that flashed every once in a while, making the crystal glow. Inscribed on the dog was the word Sirius, then Remus got it all.

"Oh I see, the pendant represents your name." Sirius baffled at first to what Remus was talking about then looked towards his necklace.

"Oh yeah… It's my family necklace. Everyone gets them once they've been named."

"I just noticed again that your name is a stars name. Why is that?"  
Sirius seemed to not like to talk on this subject but told the patient ears anyways, "In my family, the house of Black, we name the children after the stars. My family has always believed that stars are three things, pure magic, ancient, and everlasting."

They've also believed that the heart of certain stars lie within our hearts. And so…" He said pulling down the collar to his shirt a little bit, "We receive birthmarks, like the one I have here on my chest, at birth that tell our family what our names should be. Takes all the fun out of naming your children, but that's how it works."

My full name is Sirius Orion Black. My heart is from Sirius, but my mind is from Orion. Orion is also my father's name, which is really strange for a star to bless two people at once."

"Really?" Remus asked.

Sirius nodded, "Everyone in my family has gone by the tradition of naming their children after the stars since the first person of the Black family. We've always intermarried to keep the bloodline pure and so goes our motto, Toujours Pur."

"Always Pure…" Remus said with awe.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, "And so these necklaces are made for us and as far as I remember my dad says that they take a little piece of the star that you are born from and place it in the crystal, symbolizing that you are part of the family and that the star is part of you," he nodded.  
"But enough about that, I see that we're moving."

The ceremony went on for a while, so it seemed, before they started calling names.  
"Black, Sirius."

Everyone in the room went quiet, the Slytherin table however looked rather smug as Sirius walked down the aisle to the front of the room. The room was all focused on him as he walked with one slow step after another towards the rude looking hat. Sitting down on the stool, he felt it dropped on his head.

A voice boomed over the whole sea of quiet, "Ah! Another Black… A whole family that has always been sorted into Slytherin, so is that where you want to go?"

Sirius didn't answer, his eyes were straightforward, never wavering.

The hat spoke up again, "Hrm… That's strange. You don't seem to be a Slytherin. More of… ah yes, well I guess that is right. Such a hard decision… You should be Slytherin. Alright I have made my decision! Your house is…."

Sirius shut his eyes tightly as he waited for the call to Slytherin, "GRYFFINDOR!!"

His eyes went wide as the whole Gryffindor table stood up with a cheer while the entire Slytherin table stood up with a shout of, "WHAT?!"

Sirius, shaking, went towards the Gryffindor table and sat down to all the welcomes.

"Welcome, first member of the Black family to be sorted into Gryffindor." Sirius nodded towards them and then buried his head in his arms with a groan. He was dead… It was a while later that the red haired girl was sorted to Gryffindor, Sirius learned that her name was Lily. She didn't sit by him but by some other girls that got sorted in. Then it was time for Remus.

"Lupin, Remus."

Every teacher's eyes were on him as he sat down. Dumbledore's eyes were on him especially.  
The hat then began to speak, "Ah, talk of the year in my book, how very clever and peculiar. You seem to be a Ravenclaw… but no I know the perfect place for you. GRYFFINDOR!!"  
Remus sighed in relief and ran to sit next to Sirius. Sirius patted him on the back as they waited for their other friends to be sorted.

"Pettigrew, Peter."

Peter walked to the stool and sat down.

"Maybe this boy should be a Hufflepuff with how shy he is. But no… He's a GRYFFINDOR!!"

"Potter, James!" James ran up the aisle and sat down eagerly.

The hat wasn't even near his head when it called out, "GRYFFINDOR!!"

Professor McGonagall stared at the hat, "But you weren't even on his head."

The hat just lifted its mouth a little higher to make a sour face, "You don't need to think with a Potter. I smelled Gryffindor on him as soon as he entered the room."

All four of them were together, and when they finally called out the last person the feast began. Dumbledore and Remus caught each other's eyes and they both smiled at each other.

"Thank you…" Remus mouthed to him.

As they followed the Prefect to the dormitories, they were amazed by the staircases that wound  
around and around. James was especially fascinated with them, thinking of how hard it would be to slide down them. They were about to walk up the stairs when they heard a maniacal witch laughter like the evil cackle of a banshee, only times two, and actually human.

"Poor widdle Sirius…" a girl with long wavy black hair and dark eyes said in a baby tone towards him. "What will his mummy think when we tell her that he's been put into Gryffindor? And here mummy and daddy were waiting for the good news that their son was a Slytherin…"

Sirius stiffened. "You wouldn't…"

"Oh but we would…" Another one of the witches said, this one had long blond hair. "And we will. Your mummy told us to watch over her precious son. But what will she think when she hears this news?"

The black haired girl started up again, "Or worse, what will daddy think? Hanging around mud-bloods and half-bloods."

Sirius took out his wand and yelled towards them angrily, "Don't you dare say that, Bella! You either, Cissy!"

Both the girls took out their wands and pointed them towards him. "You can't take us at the same time Sirius."

Sirius moved his wand towards a small vase on the side and said, "Reducto!"

The vase shattered and he then went to throw the shattered pieces at the girls with his wand but before he could he dropped his arm back down to his side.

"Go ahead and tell my mother that I'm a Gryffindor. I don't care… Just don't EVER speak of my friends like that!"

Putting his wand back into his robe he walked back towards the other three boys. They seemed a little freaked out by the whole ordeal by the way they were staring at Sirius.

The Black child smiled at them and said, "Cousins, what can you do?"

James was the first to speak, "Where did you learn that spell?"

His voice sounded scared, frightened to the very core.

Remus then picked up where James left off, "Yeah, we're not supposed to learn things like that until our third or fourth years, or even at the latest our fifth year."

Peter nodded, "That was a-amazing th-though."

"Well you see," Sirius began, "In my family you're taught since the moment you're born to how to use magic. But it's not any regular magic, its Black magic."

The other three stared frightened at Sirius in what he just said, But that didn't stop him from showing off his pearly whites and running up the stairs, "Well, come on! We should catch up with the others."

The three boys laughed and joined Sirius on their escapade up to the other Gryffindor students.  
They finally caught up with the others, who were standing in front of a portrait with a rather fat woman. She was speaking with the Prefect about how great her summer was, the Prefect nodded and then turned towards the students.

"These are our dormitories, the common room is just past this portrait. The password for getting in is Kings Wool."

The portrait of the fat woman nodded her head and the picture swung open, all of the first years were amazed by this and they all walked in after the Prefect.

As for the term 'Prefect', it is a student chosen by the teachers who are in charge of the four houses. Professor McGonagall is in charge of the Gryffindor house and picked four Prefects for the house. Prefects are like 'hall-monitors' they get they make sure that students are following all the house rules and making sure that nobody disobeys them. If somebody were to disobey them then they would have the right to send them to detention, and dock points for the house. For you see, the houses have a competition every year, depending on how many points you earn you win the house cup, a symbol that says your house was the best.

Enough about that, back to the story.

As they entered they saw a beautiful common room. It was stunning, the furniture was all red and gold, a velvet covered couch that had a few golden pillows with the house crest on it and also what seemed to be a really soft blanket hanging over the back of the couch. There was a roaring fire place in the corner that brought an elegant glow to the room. It was only lit by the fireplace and the candles, letting the shadows of the room give off a beautiful splendor of darkness, and warmth. Pictures hung from the walls, all of them greeting the children as they entered the room.

As they all gathered in the Prefect smiled at them, "Alright now the boy's dorms are to the left and the girls are to the right. I bid you all goodnight and once again, welcome to Hogwarts, we're especially excited to have you all in Gryffindor."

As the Prefect left the room to do his duties they ran up the stairs to the dorm rooms. As they entered the room they saw all of their stuff piled in front of their beds already with a Gryffindor scarf, patch, tie, uniform and the red lining that was to go in their robes.

Remus walked towards his bed and smiled at the stuff that was there. He looked to see that  
James' bed was right across from his, Peter's was kitty-corner to his and Sirius was right next to him. Remus was also happy to see that he got the bed that wasn't near the window.  
Sirius lay down on his bed with a sigh, "Thank Merlin that's over…"

Remus sat down on his own bed and changed out of his school robes trying to cover the scars on his chest.

"Well I for one am happy that you're in Gryffindor, Sirius," He said. "It means I get to know you more. Goodnight."

"Night, Remus." Sirius whispered back. He was so tired, he had already fallen asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

**A/N: A Collab with DragonFaynge96!**

**This is the marauders how we imagined it! It gets better. I promise. Things get clearer in the next chapter. Now press the pretty button and review!**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As the dawn rose on the scenery of Hogwarts you couldn't ask for a more peaceful day. The sun shone brighter that day than any the world had ever seen, it brought a mystery and a beauty far beyond that of any morning that anyone had ever seen. The teachers were slowly rousing at this accursed hour to go to their classrooms and prepare for the day. Lessons were to be taught and they wanted a good impression left on their new students, especially those of higher class families. Many could not appreciate such a morning because of this circumstance, it bothered some but it was a blessing to others. To see such a fine sunrise was to remind them how early it really was and that they had a splitting headache from the alcohol consumption the night before.

It was nearing 5:30 in the morning when James woke up. He yawned a bit; scratching his elbow as the first beams of sun could be seen rising in the distance. He heard a loud growl and looked towards his belly, smiling a bit he patted it waiting for the annoying sound to stop.

"There, there belly, we'll getcha' fed in no time. Just need somebody to come with me." Looking around the room towards the other boys he figured three things, Sirius was not a morning person by his looks, Peter was just too shy to confront, and Remus seemed to be a morning person by how cheerful he was. His best bet was to deal with Remus.

Walking out of his bed and towards the others was a dangerous task, for many discarded and random items laid on the floor and one false move could wake everyone up. James wanted to play a game, one that dealt with him waking up Remus first.

Reaching his destination he stared at the other boy, "Mmmnmn…" The other mumbled incoherently in his sleep.

"Remmy… Remmy wake up!" He whispered while poking the other, other whacked his hand away from his body saying, "Soit tranquille je dors…" Falling back to sleep. James puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, his voice turning to a whiny wheedle, "I don't speak Spanish Remmy…Just wake up!!"

It was at this moment something hard tried to make friends with his head, but sadly to say, it failed… Miserably.

Now James knew only a few things were true in life, one, the ceiling was always supposed to be above you and the only way you ended up laying on the floor without knowing the cause was that something hit you. Turning to see the offending object, or the person to throw the offending object to be precise, he saw a giant, black, angry teddy bear looming down on him from above…no…wait…

'Whew…it's only Stupid…'

"It's five in the freaking MORNING!!!" he screamed.

"Five thirty" James corrected him. Then, with a terrified look on his face, he fled to the other side of the room, using the still-unconscious Peter as a shield from Stupid suddenly lunging for his throat in a bloodthirsty rage.

Then, much like what Stupid did to him, Stupid suddenly fell to the floor unconscious because something resembling a rather large, thick, and VERY HEAVY textbook came flying towards him. No wonder…it WAS a rather large, thick and VERY HEAVY textbook! Fortunately, he didn't really lose consciousness right then, and as he turned around to face the culprit, he found himself facing a person who appeared to be trying to meld a pillow to his own head.

"SHUT UP!!!" Remus yelled. "You two are acting like four year olds!!! You are the most insignificant, paramecium brained, boisterous, ludicrous, preposterous little twits I have ever had the misfortune to meet in my life!!"

They sat there staring at him in a stupor. Stupid, or should we say Sirius, looked over at the boy that, just moments before, he had tried to murder with his bare hands. James leaned closer to his bruised friend.

"Did you understand a single word he just said?" he asked in a whisper.

James blinked and whispered back, "I'm not sure. What does insignificant mean?"

They sat staring at each other, wishing that Remus didn't have to use such big words. After a few moments consultation they looked over at the boy standing across from them who was fuming to the point where they'd swear smoke was coming out of his ears.

"We love you too, Remmy." James said decisively.

Remus groaned.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Remus pondered at the ceiling.

A small rustle sounded through the room as the oblivious Peter awoke from his death like slumber. "Hey guys," he said sleepily, "what's going on?"

"Yay, you're awake!" James beamed at him, "Now we can all go to breakfast!" Remus groaned again, sliding out from under his covers.

Sirius cringed at the loud noise, despite the fact that they had been causing such a ruckus only moments before, "Geez, James. How can you be so cheerful and awake at this ungodly hour?"

James smiled at the others, "Ah, this is nothing. My mum gets me up at four every morning! I slept in today!"

Sirius was astonished that a boy could act like this so early in the morning and get up that early for that matter. "What, were you raised by gypsies?!"

James got a really serious look on his face and glared at Sirius pulling out his wand that seemed to've come out of nowhere, "Don't ever make fun of my mother!"

Remus was now at a loss for words, when he finally grasped what the other had just said he posed his question, "Were you?"

James beamed at his friends interest in his family, "Of course I was! Ever since I was a baby!"

Sirius placed his head in his hands shaking it back and forth, "This explains so much…

James's eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked at the other boys, "So, how about breakfast?!"

All three of the other boys groaned and fell back into their beds. It was only after a lot of begging and pleading (for James to go back to bed), the four boys got up, dressed, and went down to get something to eat.

"Yay, hotcakes here I come!!" James cheered as he led the others down to the Great Hall.

Sirius ran up to where James was, telling him to slow down and wait up for the rest of them. Peter ran up not wanting to feel left out of the group. Remus stayed back looking at his robes, his friends all had really nice black ones, custom made to fit the boys perfectly in every way. His on the other hand… Taking one more look he sighed sadly, the only part of his uniform that wasn't old were the shirts, ties, and pants. The other things were hand-me-downs from when his father went to school. He didn't want any of his friends to see the old robes.

James was the first to notice the skinny blond boy missing from their entourage. Looking behind him he saw Remus stalled looking down at his feet, sorrow clear on his face. James ran back making the other two boys by him look back as well.

Before he knew it, Remus was surrounded by the three boys, all three smiling like there wasn't a care in the world. James's hand was extended towards Remus's, a gesture of friendship as those brown eyes sparkled with life.

"Come on Remmy, we're waiting on you!" Remus's frown turned to a small smile, he was happy to start walking again. James was running down the halls with great excitement as thoughts of his breakfast were running through his head. "Mmm, I hope they have hotcakes! With jam and oh, pumpkin juice would be nice too!" The other three boys trailed behind all of them yawning at the cursed hour. It was now about six o'clock, and the sun was shining through all of the windows brightly making the three boys groan at the sudden burst of light.

By the time the others had caught up to James he was already sitting at the Gryffindor house table in the Great Hall, happily dreaming away about hotcakes. The long oak tables were barren, no food in sight, because breakfast wasn't going to start for another half-hour or so. As the three boys took their seats next to James to get a little more shut eye before other students would filter in, James loudly interrupted their sleep… again.

"Hey, so Remmy what's with the accent?"

Remus was baffled, he had an accent? He didn't even notice, he thought spoke pretty good English and could pass off for an Englishmen himself.

"What do you mean James? And it's Remus."

James shrugged, "Well when I tried to wake you up this morning you spoke Spanish. Are you like part Spanish or something?" Remus and Sirius decided to laugh at the brown haired boy's stupidity.

"It's French you twit!" Sirius said still laughing at the other. Remus nodded in agreement while still chuckling himself. James was baffled… "There's a language called FRENCH?!! Where does it originate?!"

Remus smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, "You have to be joking!" James laughed at him.

"Of course I am Remmy, I've been to France before. But I've also been to Spain and to me all foreign languages sound the same! But wow, France!"

Remus smiled a bit, "Yes that's right, I'm half French, half English." Sirius was the next to pose a question.

"So why aren't you attending Beauxbâtons?" Remus brought his hand to his chin and thought deeply on the question. After about ten seconds or so of pondering he said.

"Well my dad's an Englishmen and attended this school, and so naturally I would want to attend the same school as him."

"What about your mum? Did she attend Beauxbâtons?" Peter asked. Remus shook his head sadly. "My mother is a muggle."

James and Sirius seemed shocked that someone like Remus would be a "half-blood", he seemed so informed in wizardry as if both of his parents were magical folk.

James was the first to comment on the discovery, "Well, it must've been quite a shock to your mum when your dad told her he was a wizard!" Remus laughed wholeheartedly at the joke and nodded in response.

"She was indeed."

Students started filing in all yawning and talking about how cool their classes were going to be that day. There seemed to be hundreds of students when it couldn't have been more than fifty or so.

Sirius felt a tap on his shoulder and the boys stopped talking to take a look at the almost inhumanly beautiful girl before them. She had long brown hair that was straightened with the exception of a few curls on the ends that gave her an even more girly appearance as she had a green band going across the top of her head. Her eyes were a bright brown, almost like James's, only they were wider and surrounded by a deep green eye shadow with a hint of yellow as well. Her lips were full to the point of a man's fantasy of lips that he'd want to kiss they were a dark cocoa color to complement her eyes and hair. Snake earrings hung from her ears, both of them having a silver color and emerald eyes. Around her neck was the house tie that she belonged to, a silver and green, a patch woven onto her blazer of a snake with red eyes, underneath the crest it read, Slytherin. On top of the tie there was a pendant of a woman that seemed to be chained down to a rock of some sort with a wave crashing against the rock, the rock was a crystal that had a glowing object inside that was just like Sirius's pendant. The pendant on the womans neck read, Andromeda.

"Hello Dromeda, come to pick on me as well?" Sirius asked turning back to his friends with a grouchy face. The girl chuckled a bit and spoke, her voice was like sweet honey.

"No Sirius, I came to congratulate you on making it to Hogwarts." Sirius glared at her and spat back, "That's not what Cissy and Bella said."

Andromeda bit down on her lip and sat down next to Sirius, "Listen Sirius, Bella went home last night and I bet she went and told your parents what happened. Be prepared for anything okay? I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you this year Siri, I'll look out for you like I always have."

Sirius smirked at her, "Thanks Dromeda… But I think you'll have to do a lot with keeping that witch of a sister away from me." Andromeda chuckled a little bit.

"Just be careful okay? I can't watch out for you all the time… Even if you are a Black you're bound to run into trouble." With that the beautiful girl got up from the Gryffindor table and began walking towards the Slytherin one. James's mouth was wide open.

"Who was that?! She's HOT!!" Sirius laughed a bit.

"You remember those two witches from last night?" The three boys nodded and James gasped, "You don't mean that she's the one with the curly hair?!"

Sirius glared, "No, her name is Andromeda and she's my cousin. She's a seventh year Slytherin."

Remus looked towards the Slytherin table where the beautiful girl was studying a book and smiled, "You do have to agree with James though, she is very pretty."

"And sorry to say but the blond one was pretty good looking too…" James said. Sirius glared at the two of them and yelled, "Stop fantasizing over my cousins! They're demented!"

Soon enough breakfast started and the professors were gathered at the front table. Dumbledore got up and walked to the podium, "Before breakfast begins I have a few announcements, the whomping willow tree on the north east side of the castle is off limits unless you have a death wish. Also Hogsmeade visits will begin on the first weekend of October, and remember third years you need to have parent permission to attend as for first and second years you will be suspended and or expelled if found wandering around Hogsmeade without permission."

The breakfast poured out of nowhere and James instantly dug into the hotcakes like he said he would. Pouring syrup, jams, and getting bacon, ham and eggs onto his plate as well. Remus pulled a little bit of food onto his plate not really feeling hungry. James looked at him and said, "Remmy are you not hungry?"

"No, I just don't feel too good." Remus said a little shakily, eating a little bit he left the rest of the food untouched after a few bites. Hearing a few screeches everyone looked up to see owls pouring in, hearing one of the other students say, "Oh, looks like mails here…" They looked to see if anything was coming. A letter fell infront of Sirius's face and he nearly fell out of his seat. A look of pure terror was over his face as he saw the letter written out,

Sirius Orion Black  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
Gryffindor Table.

Sirius looked at the letter and the look of terror was still on his face, he looked so scared that James had to see what it was. At the sight of what it was he too became pale, Remus and Peter didn't get what was going on, "What is it Sirius?"

"A h-howler…" James and Sirius shuddered at the word. There were a few cackles from the Slytherin table and James saw the blond witch again with a few other people as she whispered what the note to Sirius was. The room was still alive with chatter and Sirius felt sick to his stomach.

"I might as well get it over with…"

As soon as the seal was broken a loud screech went though the great hall screaming, "SIRIUS ORION BLACK!!! HOW DARE YOU GET SORTED INTO THAT HOUSE OF MUDBLOODS!!! I have never been so humiliated and ashamed of anyone in my life! You are a disgrace to our family, a BLOOD TRAITOR, shame to my flesh! I should burn that hat for even saying that horrid word! You promised you would get into Slytherin and this is the thanks and promise I get for raising you to who you are now?!! Next time you come home we'll have a long talk about this!! Orion do you have anything to say?!" The note the puffed out smoke into Sirius's face, "I am deeply disappointed in you, boy. This type of behavior had better not rub off on Regulus or you will regret it… See you during Christmas and don't be late, boy."

The note then tore itself to pieces and Sirius's eyes were wide in shock and pain, the every wound was like a stab to his chest and gut. Sirius felt faint and sick after hearing the note, not only did he have to suffer from hearing his parents fury, but the entire school had to hear it. He glared at the note, he wouldn't let them have their way with him. He was going to take it like a man and move on. He wouldn't let his cousins have the satisfaction of what they had done.

"Cissy was right… They did go through with telling my mother." Remus looked at the note, "That was your mother? It sounded like a banshee with a toothache." Sirius began to laugh and kept the tears that were in his eyes held there, he wouldn't cry… He… couldn't cry. Not here, not in front of everyone.

James patted Sirius's back and said, "Well, let's get ready for class okay? That should take your mind off of it."

The four boys got up from the table, James looked around the room to see everyone looking at Sirius in confusion, fear, and like all of this was some funny joke. James glared at them and said, "Well there's your theater now eat your breakfast!" When everyone still had the same faces on, he yelled out, "NOW!!" Everyone then began eating afraid of what the first year boy could do. When he felt like, his mother's rage could show through him.

"Holy cow Sirius, your mom is freaky!" Peter said and Sirius said, "At least you don't need to face her later on." Chuckling with a hint of fear in it he continued, "What I'm terrified about though is my father…" The tears were reforming and Sirius wiped them away with the sleeve of his robe. He stopped and walked towards the window leaning his face against the window.

"My father has never been ashamed of me… Here I am the first day of school and he's already disappointed." His form began to shake and he began to fall to the ground. He kept sniffling and letting out shallow breaths that were all the signs of crying. None of the other boys knew what to do in a situation like this, they were boys! They didn't know all that much about comforting and talking things out… Well apparently one of them did…

Remus leaned down and placed a hand on Sirius's back and began to rub circles around, kind of like a mother would do to a child, "It's okay Sirius. You'll be okay, just let it all out…"

After a while he let out a couple more sniffles and began to speak, "I know I shouldn't be crying but it's just so hard not to…"

Remus was still rubbing circles around the others back and whispering a little bit. "As I said, it'll be okay. We're here for you…" Sirius calmed down and stared at the blond boy for a bit before grinning.

"You're right Remus. I think I'll be okay… Thanks." Remus smiled a bit and helped the other up, "It's no problem."

Remus sighed as he dusted himself off and grabbed his textbooks again the three boys were silent and still as Remus began walking down the halls again heading to their first class. Remus turned back to them and smiled, "Well, aren't you coming?" They three boys hurriedly ran to the other with laughs and smiles on their faces. No traces of crying were left on Sirius's face, it was unflawed once again.

They headed towards the staircases that would lead them under the school and into the cold dungeons. And when we say cold we mean cold, it was so freezing that you could practically see your breath. As they entered, the door screeching with a blood chilling sound, they looked around at the other first year students. The professor inside was a short and plump man that could only be described as a "walrus," his face was chubby and covered with a huge moustache that looked like walrus tusks. His eyes were a gooseberry color and were almost hidden behind the fat cheeks.

As for what he wore it was a classic suit that seemed so large that you could probably fit about four or maybe even five of the students in the classroom into it. The robe was no exception either, it was rather large but still covered the man which was amazing to the boys. Now to let you know, he probably wasn't that fat, but to the eyes of four ten year old boys of course he'd seem that big!

They took their seats next to each other and as all the students filed in and began to sit down the teacher began speaking, his voice was gruff with a slight wheeze in it, "Welcome to Potions, I am Professor Horace Slughorn we should get started right away so we don't waste any time."

Looking around the classroom his eyes fell on Sirius and the Professors became wide. "Sirius Black huh? I never thought I would see the son of Orion in my classroom. You look just like him when he was your age. He was a bright student, sat right next to I believe… Hrm... Oh yeah… He would sit in the Great Hall with your mother Walburga." Sirius glared at the professor as he continued to speak, "Yes, Orion was quite a genius at potions, one of the best students I've ever had. Too bad he took up smoking in his fifth year though… he altogether quit potions in his sixth year to pursue the ways of Divination and Arithmancy. Why he would do such a thing as go into an inaccurate and imprecise way of thinking is beyond me. Then again, I never really understood Orion. I don't think anyone ever has…" Looking around the class he coughed a little bit.

"Oh sorry, I got a little sidetracked from Mr. Black. But as for potions, it is required to have precise and perfect measurements each and every time, otherwise you'll end up making the wrong potion or a complete catastrophe. Now to set you into partners…" He looked at his list of names and began to name some off.

"Alright Black, since you're right there, I want you to be with… Potter." Sirius and James high-fived each other and laughed a little bit as Slughorn looked over the chart and began naming some more students.

After a while he announced the pretty red haired girls name, "Evans, I want you with Prewett." And Peter was paired off with a Ravenclaw girl which left only a couple more names. Remus was one of the last to be named off.

"Snape I want you and Lupin working together." Remus smiled at the Slytherin boy and got up from his seat and moved to sit next to Snape. Sirius and James on the other hand had their mouths wide open at the scene. Here was their best friend sitting next to the boy they deemed their arch nemesis! Now he wasn't their nemesis. He was now their worst enemy.

Remus sat down and smiled at Snape, "How are you today Severus?" Snape nodded his reply and looked through his textbook.

As the lesson ran along James and Sirius were having a little too much fun with 'writing their notes'. "We'll teach him to take our best friend!" James whispered to Sirius and the other cackled in return.

Remus was taking notes like a maniac, writing down every word the teacher said. It was amazing that a boy could write that fast and still hear every word. He was so engrossed with the notes that he didn't even notice the other two boys on the opposite side of the room getting ready to throw a paper creature towards Snape. But as the creature flew out of James's hands and towards Remus's partner, he held his hand up and caught the object without the teacher noticing. James and Sirius looked at each other baffled that Remus knew what was going on. He must've seen them about to throw it that was the only logical explanation.

As the class ended Remus looked at his notes and let out a depressed sigh, "I still don't understand a word he said. My English still isn't that good…" Snape looked at him and began packing his things into his satchel, "You could've fooled me. Although, now that I think about it, you do have a slight French accent." With that Snape began walking towards the back of the classroom where Lily was waiting for him.

Remus walked up there with Snape and smiled at Lily, "Hello Lily how are you today?" Lily blushed a little bit, holding one of her arms with a hand and rubbing it up and down in a shy manner. Her foot was also drawing a pattern on the floor. The blush on her face made her look really cute and girlish.

"F-fine Remus, and how are you?" She finally muttered out, twirling one of her curled red locks around her finger. Remus looked back into the classroom where James and Sirius were still. He then began to respond, "Oh just fine. A little tired and sick but nothing much. What's your next class Severus?"

Lily's face turned to a pout and said, "Sev has History of Magic and we have Defense against the Dark Arts. Well, see ya later Sev, maybe we can meet up later on?" She asked pushing him along, he was a little baffled and angered but silently nodded and began to walk away.

Lily looked towards Remus and smiled once again, "Well should we get going?" Remus looked back in the classroom where Slughorn was holding up Sirius and James talking to them about Sirius's father and a Tom Riddle. Lily looked back there and glared, "What are you waiting for Remus? Those two?"

Remus nodded, "I have a feeling if somebody doesn't escort them to class then they won't go." Lily laughed and said, "I'd believe that. Well, see ya later Remus…"

As they finally got the other boys out of the classroom they began to listen to Sirius and James complain, "Merlin, I didn't think we'd ever get out of there!"

"Yeah I know, I thought he'd keep talking about them all day. As if I need to remember I'm a disgraced child." Sirius spat out. James nodded and looked towards Remus who looked really sick.

"Yo Remmy? Are you feeling okay?" Remus looked at him and nodded with a hand over his mouth, "Yeah… I'll be fine."

As they entered the Defense classroom they saw the teacher was already getting things ready and teaching. Looking up from his desk he glared a bit, "Nice of you to join us boys, but if you hadn't noticed class started about ten minutes ago!"

Sirius glared back at him, "Blame Slughorn not us!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" The teacher yelled, "Now take your seats…"

As they sat down, James mumbling something about "No good teacher…", the teacher calmed down. "Alright as I was saying we're going to be learning about disarming spells today. It is one of the easiest and most basic spells that you'll learn so I thought we could get off on a nice start. Now if Mr. Black and Mr. Potter will be so kind as to come up here and demonstrate we can begin." James and Sirius looked at the teacher.

"Why do we have to do it?!" The teacher smirked, "Punishment for being late. Now come on it isn't that hard to learn." They walked to the front of the class room and took out their wands.

"Okay, now the spell we'll be learning today is Expelliarmus. Now can anyone in here please tell the rest of the class what this spell is commonly used for?"

Remus raised his hand into the air and the teacher gladly called on him. "Yes, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus breathed out a little bit and then said, "Expelliarmus is a spell that is used to disarm another wizard, typically by causing the victim's wand to fly out of reach. It can also throw the target backwards when enough power is put into it." The teacher smiled and said. "That is the perfect definition of the spell. Twenty points to Gryffindor." James and Sirius now seemed excited to be casting the spell. Mainly because they'd be putting all their power into the shot to see who could throw the other backwards.

The teacher then said, "Alright now I will also be teaching you about dueling. Alright boys, walk up to each other." They did as they were told and stood face to face, Sirius standing a couple inches taller than James. "Hold your wands up to salute the other." They each held their wands in front of their faces, "Now bring them back down and turn around. Take ten paces and then stop." They lowered their wands and walked ten paces each.

"Alright… Ready… Begin!"

James was the fastest to turn around and he cried out, "Expellamus!" Sirius went flying back and hit the wall rather hard, falling back down and hitting the floor unconscious with his wand still in hand. James stared at the other not knowing what had just happened. Sirius began to stir and got up, "Whoa… That was AWESOME!!! James! Do it again!!"

The teacher quickly walked between them and held up his hands, "No, no, no! That's… quite alright. Bravo James. Please take your seats…" As they took their seats the teacher rubbed his eyes with thumb and index finger.

"Can anyone explain what they saw what was wrong with the spell?" Lily raised her hand and the professor called on her. "Yes, Miss Evans?"

Lily looked at James and Sirius with a stuck-up look. "Well there were a few things wrong with it! For one thing he didn't even disarm Black. He just severely hurt him!"

"AH!" Sirius yelled towards her, "He only severely injured me SLIGHTLY!!!"

Lily rolled her eyes and said, "And for another thing he said it wrong! He said it ex-pell-AH-mus. It's pronounced ex-pell-ee-AR-mus."

The teacher nodded, "That is true, be sure that when you say spells to say them correctly or otherwise you will end up severely injured like Mr. Black."

"I said I'm only SLIGHTLY severely injured!!" He said just before he passed out again.

As they sat in charms they watched the small man get onto his podium. "Okay Class, today as you can see there are feathers in front of you we're going to be learning a spell that goes Wingardium Leviosa. Now to perform this spell it requires a 'swish and flick' movement! Now all of you try it."

Sirius took his wand and spoke. "Wingardium Leviosa." With the 'swish and flick' movement that was described he then began levitating the feather. It was funny at first to watch it and everyone in the classroom watched as well. Professor Flitwick clapped his hands together and said, "Bravo! Now let's get the rest of you to go."

Remus then tried it, "Wingardium Leviosa." And his too was up in the air. James had a little difficulty at first but eventually got the feather up. Peter however couldn't get his up for the life of him.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Remus chuckled a bit. "It's a swish and flick movement Peter." He said demonstrating the movement. Peter looked at the feather and then his eyes drooped. "I'm no good at this Remus…"

"You just need to keep trying."

" you're supposed to use the SPELL to keep the feather in the air, NOT your breathing!" James pouted and said the spell once more with the movement, resting his face in his hand in a bored like manner.

That night at dinner Remus was looking rather pale, he was holding onto his stomach and shivering so violently it seemed that the table was shaking with him. Sirius stared at him and asked, "You alright there Remus?"

The other just nodded a little. "I'm just not used to the climate here that's all. I'll be better in the morning." James took this opportunity to speak with his mouth full of mashed potatoes and meat, "You should go see Madame Pomfry! She'll get you feeling better in no time!"

Remus shook his head and began eating just a tiny bit. "I'll be fine. I just need to rest a bit, that's all…" The others exchanged glances and then returned to Remus in concern.

Remus excused himself only a few minutes later after touching his food for a while. He hastily ate a roll and smiled at them. "Well, I'm off to do my homework and then to bed. See you later." The boys nodded and then began discussing.

"Do you think he's really ok? He looked really sick to me…" James said, Sirius shrugged and Peter didn't know what to do. James looked over at the door where their friend was exiting and went back to his food. "Cause I've NEVER seen anyone look that sick before."

"That's cause you've lived in the wild your whole life you mangy animal. I've seen my brother look that sick before. He had a fever and that's all. I think that's what Remus has, either that or altitude sickness." James looked worriedly at the door and then back to his plate again not knowing what else to say.

As they finished off their dinner they walked back to the dorm talking about how they wanted to try out for the Quidditch teams this year. "But they hardly EVER let first years in on the teams. The last first year that made it onto the Quidditch team lived nearly a century ago…" James shrugged his shoulders. "Well I'm going to try out anyways. And if I don't make it, big whoop! I'll try out again my second year!"

Sirius laughed and hit James on the back in a friendly manner, "Well then if you're going to try out then I'll try out too!" James beamed at this and hugged him tightly, only to realize that he was hugging another bloke and he quickly let the other go, moving to the other side of the hall with wide eyes. "Yo, I'm sorry about that! I don't know what came over me…"

Sirius was stunned to say the least. The only boy that had ever hugged him was Regulus, and even then they were little children when they did that. Sirius had a look that said 'what-in-Merlin's-name-just-happened', while Peter was exchanging worried glances between the two of them.

When Sirius had not responded to his apology he ran back to him as fast as he could shaking him with all his might, "I'm not a bloody poof Stupid! You HAVE to believe me!!"

Sirius gave off gagging sounds and tried to pry the other off, when that was no use he replied, "Okay, okay, I believe you! Get off! Sheesh," He ended when James finally stopped, "I wasn't even thinking that you were a poof. Gosh, you make a statement when you mean it." Dusting his arms off and straightening his robes he rolled his eyes at the other. "You were just excited that I was going to try out with you, I get it."

James grinned widely and started walking up the stairs with the other two close behind, humming lightly as they headed up the stairs towards the tower. "So, do you think Remmy would want to try out as well? I think he'd make a good Keeper personally."

Sirius shrugged and jerked to the left when the stairs decided to change all of the sudden. "I don't know. He doesn't seem all that interested."

As they entered the dorm room, they saw papers on the desk, most likely Remus's homework, while the poor skinny boy was curled up tightly in his blankets, fast asleep. Poor Remus, they thought.

Sirius was the first to get ready for bed while James was still putting on his pajamas getting tangled up in the sleeves, falling to the floor with a big thud. Sirius and Peter chuckled at this, making sure not to wake up their sick friend.

James walked towards his bed, falling into the unmade sheets, tossing aside the note on his pillow which said:

'ATTENTION ALL HOUSE ELVES,  
Please don't make my bed today.  
Thank You,

James Potter.'

"Ahh…" he said, rolling over. "They do listen." He snuggled his pillow, letting out a long sigh of relief. Sirius crawled into his perfectly made bed and shook his head disapprovingly at James.

"You're sick, man." He said. James chuckled sleepily. Sirius looked out the window at the stars overhead momentarily eying his star sign. He sighed and gazed at the nearly full moon before drifting off to a fitful slumber.


	3. Author's Note PLEASE READ

Hello everyone,

Lily here. It's been a hard few weeks. I've finished high school, that was fun, but I'm not really pleased with other current events. Plagiarism is on the rise. I write under the same name at Fictionpress and most (if not all) of my favorite authors have been plagiarised. This is not something I can just brush off as one of my poems over there has been stolen too.

Most of the stolen stories appear over here from FP. It makes me sick that people can't just write their own stuff. These people put a lot of effort into their stories and to see them abused like that is DISGUSTING. We have ways of finding plagiarisers and they will be punished for what they have done. Unfortunately so will many other fans who have done nothing but be faithful readers. These stories that have been loved and cherished have been removed from fictionpress **(with LOTS of proof that the original is theirs: timestamps, screenshots, copies, recopies--the works, so think again, thieves)**. Many fans will never read their favorite author's stories ever again.

I'm not sure if my stories will remain on here for much longer. I need to protect myself. This is not done lightly. It may not happen for a few weeks, but you'll probably see a lot of things coming down. I'm sorry if it's your favorite, but I need to do what's best for me.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to PM me. I'm not changing my mind, so don't hold your breath.

I thank all of you for the time I've had here. I love you all.

XO- Lily Jay


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